The BBC has issued another statement regarding Scott Mills’ sacking from Radio 2, saying it has “obtained new information”.
The DJ and presenter was fired from the station’s Breakfast Show on Monday (March 30), due to allegations about his “personal conduct”.
It was subsequently reported that Mills’ sudden dismissal from the BBC related to him being probed by police in 2016 over “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy.
Later, the corporation admitted that concerns about “inappropriate communications” involving Mills had been raised last year. “This should have been followed up and we should have asked further questions,” the BBC said.
“We apologise for this and will look into why this did not happen. More broadly, we would always urge anyone who has concerns or information to raise it with us.”
Mills has also been dropped from the BBC’s coverage of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, per The Independent.
Today (Wednesday April 1), a spokesperson for the broadcaster shared a fresh statement, in which they claimed that the BBC had recently “obtained new information” about Mills.
“Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many,” it began.
“We also recognise there’s been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.”
The message went on: “What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March. The BBC has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards.”
It added: “Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met.”
The new message then “separately” confirmed that “the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made”.
It concluded: “We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time.”
Mills, 53, joined BBC Radio 2’s weekday schedule after replacing Steve Wright in the afternoon slot in 2022. Before that, he worked on BBC Radio 1 from 1998 onwards, and also hosted that station’s Official Chart show between 2018 and 2022.
He had hosted the Breakfast Show since January 2025 after taking over from Zoe Ball, and last week (Tuesday March 24), he ended his programme by saying that he would be “back tomorrow”.
Lorna Clarke, Director of Music at BBC, subsequently shared a message with staff regarding the situation: “I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected and therefore must come as a shock.
“Not least as so many of us have worked with Scott over a great many years, across a broad range of our programmes on R1, 5Live, R2 and TV. I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.”
As well as his work on radio, Mills appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, and in 2024 he won the BBC’s Celebrity Race Across The World with his husband Sam Vaughan. He has also worked on the BBC’s Children In Need.
When he took over from Zoe Ball on Radio 2, Mills said working at the station was a “lifelong dream come true”, and that it meant a lot to him to “follow in the footsteps of Sir Terry [Wogan], Chris [Evans] and Zoe”.
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